Photo timePlay timeTime to laughGirl timeTime to phone homeBoy timeMore time to play Bed timeAnne x 

I began this blog in the summer of 2010, a lead-up to the publication of A Blonde Bengali Wife (and, as it happens, the birth of my little boy, Simon).  'Time flies' is a cliché and feels so wrong during those more challenging days/weeks/months - when it all but stands still - but looking back over the last five years, I am certainly joining that middle-aged (no...never...help!) chorus of wondering where the years have gone?We're often poor at concentrating more on what we haven't done rather than what we have. During my Family Group Conference work (a whole other story) I learned and taught that listing the positives in a situation is not only vital to present well-being and future planning, but that's it often very surprising - and affirming.  Do it, and it's likely you've achieved far more than you thought, and okay, they might be small things (getting the baby bathed before you...

I'm late writing this month... for many reasons but the most important one being, I wanted to be able to pass on accurate and honest news from Bhola.  Things have been difficult; they are emerging into a new chapter of strength and positivity - and most importantly the children are thriving!  I'm posting Dinah, our Chief Trustee's, letter in full; it's long, it's shocking, but please read to the end... and hopefully, stay with Bhola's Children...  *******Dear friends,I know many of you have wondered at the lack of any report following my visit with Freda in February.   Now, after a worrying time, I can send you our official report on the situation in Bhola.  We are immensely proud of how much we have achieved with your help for the children of Bhola, an island of two million people where poverty and lack of proper hospital facilities led to high rates of disability...

Where The Mind Is Without Fear by Rabindranath Tagore Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high Where knowledge is free Where the world has not been broken up into fragmentsBy narrow domestic walls Where words come out from the depth of truth Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit Where the mind is led forward by thee Into ever-widening thought and action Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake  Bangladesh Flag  ï»¿ï»¿ï»¿ï»¿ï»¿ï»¿ï»¿ï»¿ï»¿Independence Day in the People's Republic of Bangladesh commemorates the country's declaration of independence, achieved on 26th March, 1971.  Formerly East Pakistan, the Bangladesh War of Liberation lasted nine months in which thousands of civilians died (the Bangladeshi Authorities say it was 3 million), there was an exodus of 10 million refugees into this new country, and 30 million others were left displaced.  Somewhere...

At this time of year I'm longing to see a bit more colour, a lot more light; daffodils, crocuses, the sun rising just that bit earlier and setting later.It extends to my reading too.  Most of this is still either (a) related to my (now in the fast lane for a quick finish) PhD or (b) by Julia Donaldson, Mick Inkpen or Roald Dahl.  So, when I can chose something for an hour's blissful and inspiring entertainment, I don't want any shade of grey within a hundred miles of me.  I want a colourful explosion of well-written stories!I'm lucky enough to have a very talented group of friends and colleagues whose first novels have been published in the last few days and weeks, and it's these I'd like to share with you now.  Some are available only as ebooks, which is a choice more and more small publishers are making, others in hard copy too.  Either way, do...